After basking in the 80 degree sun of Monterey Bay with sea ottersand sea lions on Friday, Feb 15, I had my hands freezing on the chilled steering wheel of a Toyota Corolla driving out of DIA, Denver International Airport 48 hours later on Sunday night. Despite the one-day hot spell in Monterey, the temperature this winter has been abnormally chilly in central coast California with overnight lows frequently in the 30s since December. I packed the right clothes for a high plains drifter spending time in cold weather Denver.

Southwest Airlines out of San Jose got us to Denver on time and we were on I-70 heading to the Grand Hyatt Downtown Denver before midnight. One interesting observation is the rental car rate offered at the time I booked my Southwest Airlines ticket was $90 from Payless for four days and that rate was comparable to the best rate I eventually found from FOX car rental at DIA.

Grand Hyatt Denverwas part of my four night Denver hotel plan since the AAA rate was $89 last Sunday night for a downtown Denver hotel. Rates went over $200 per night for Monday and the hotel was sold out for Tuesday during the weekdays when a banking conference was in town. I had a Diamond member suite upgrade to burn before expiration at the end of February.

Sunday night and a parking space was open on Welton Street directly across from the hotel entrance. Monday as a holiday meant my parking space meter did not have to be filled at 8am Monday morning. The parking gods favored me on this hotel stay the night before a holiday and kept the Grand Hyatt $25 overnight parking fee off my hotel bill.

Grand Hyatt Denver is one of two Hyatt Hotels in downtown with Hyatt Regency Convention Center tending to be the flagship property. The rate at Hyatt Regency Denver was $117 and I could have applied my suite upgrade there.

Grand Hyatt Denver is in final remodeling phase to be finished by April 2013.

Grand Hyatt Denver is a 26 floor hotel. Our suite was on the top floor with the Grand Club lounge.

Grand Hyatt Denver is 26 floors.

Suite 2615 sitting room TV and desk.

Suite 2615 seating area.

Kitchenette with sink, refrigerator, microwave and dishes.

Kitchenette in suite.

Suite 2615 Bedroom.

Bedroom seating.

Bedroom tv and dresser.

The only complaint I had from our brief stay is the bathroom lighting was too bright with the mirror framed light shining onto the bed directly across from the bathroom door.

Bathroom sink.

This room had only a shower stall with no tub and a separate toilet room with door.

The Grand Club is located on the other end of the 26th floor hallway.

Grand Club Room on 26th Floor at Grand Hyatt Denver.

Grand Club breakfast 6:00-9:30am.

I had the breakfast rate which also allowed us to eat at Pub 17 in the lobby level.

Grand Club at Grand Hyatt Denver.

Grand Club seating at Grand Hyatt Denver.

There is a small business center in the lounge. One set of windows faces west to the mountains.

The general lack of snow on the front range hills for Presidents’ Day was a condition about to end in less than 60 hours as winter storm Q rolled into town by Wednesday afternoon.

Crowne Plaza Denver seen at left of the photo is where we would return in 48 hours for a free night after a successful IHG Best Rate Guarantee claim on a $199 room rate bookable for $107 on getaroom.com. We returned to downtown Denver Wednesday night during Winter Storm Q for a free room on our last night in Denver.

Grand Hyatt Denver pool and fitness room on 4th floor.

Fairfield Inn Cherry Creek was our stop for two nights due to its proximity to where we needed to be in Denver for our family visit. And that hotel stay was discounted from $125 to $81.75 after a successful Look No Further Best Rate Guarantee based on a $109 rate through hotels.com.

Final hotel stay folio for a four night Denver stay was under $300 including parking for two nights in downtown and two nights in Cherry Creek area while redeeming a suite upgrade, earning one stay credit Hyatt Gold Passport and one stay credit for Marriott Rewards MegaBonus for one category 1-4 hotel award certificate after two stays Feb 1-April 30.